Organon And Entelos Have Extended Their Ongoing Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Collaboration By Two Years

Main Category: Arthritis / Rheumatology
Article Date: 20 Feb 2007 - 7:00 PDT

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Organon, the human healthcare business unit of Akzo Nobel and Entelos Inc., a leading life sciences company building predictive computer models of human physiology and "virtual patients" for drug discovery and development, announced today a two-year extension of their ongoing rheumatoid arthritis (RA) collaboration. Financial terms were not disclosed.

"We are very pleased to continue our partnership with Organon," stated James Karis, president and CEO of Entelos. "Organon was one of the first companies to recognize the potential impact of Entelos' biosimulation capability and therapeutic expertise. We believe that our ability to consistently deliver value to our customers improves their prospects of developing drugs which directly benefit patients suffering from serious complex diseases such as RA."

"The collaboration with Entelos has generated candidate targets and biomarkers which will be pursued under the extension of our collaboration", said David Nicholson, executive vice president, Research & Development at Organon. "We continue to seek partnerships that move us to the forefront of RA research and development and look forward to the future benefits of Entelos' in silico approach in target and biomarker validation."

In silico R&D is an innovative, rapid and predictive research method aimed at increasing efficiency and productivity across the entire drug discovery and development pipeline. Using virtual patients and virtual drugs and targets, experiments are simulated in a computer, thereby rapidly testing what would otherwise take months or years to do in the laboratory or clinic.

Organon and Entelos have collaborated since 2001 to develop the Entelos® Rheumatoid Arthritis PhysioLab® platform, a large-scale, mathematical model that captures the overall disease process and allows the simulation of both current therapies and drugs in development. Over 700 biological functions or pathways are included in the platform, enabling researchers to predict and evaluate clinical outcomes in response to therapeutic interventions and novel approaches in virtual patients spanning the wide range of real patients in the clinic.

About Organon

Organon creates, manufactures and markets innovative prescription medicines that improve the health and quality of human life. Through a combination of innovation and business partnerships, Organon seeks to leverage its position as a leading biopharmaceutical company in each of its core therapeutic fields: fertility, gynecology and selected areas of anesthesia. It has extensive expertise in neuroscience and a rich and focused R&D program. Research areas also include immunology and specific areas of oncology. Organon products are distributed in over 100 countries worldwide, of which more than 50 have an Organon subsidiary. Organon is the human healthcare business unit of Akzo Nobel. http://www.organon.com

About Entelos

Entelos, Inc. builds predictive in silico disease models and uses "virtual patients" to revolutionize the way medicines are discovered, developed, and utilized. The Company's predictive computer models, known as PhysioLab® systems, are used to validate novel drug targets, select and develop compounds, assess safety, optimize clinical trials and combination therapies, reprofile drugs, evaluate in-licensing candidates, and better position existing products in competitive markets. In addition to internal programs, Entelos partners with global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and currently provides scientific expertise and models in such areas as cardiovascular disease, asthma, obesity, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, and complex physiological processes such as hematopoiesis (anemia), cholesterol metabolism, and skin sensitization. http://www.entelos.com

About the Rheumatoid Arthritis PhysioLab Platform

The Entelos Rheumatoid Arthritis PhysioLab platform is a large-scale, mathematical model of an inflamed joint in an RA patient. The platform dynamically integrates the tissue structure, cellular functions, and biochemical interactions necessary to reproduce synovial hyperplasia, cartilage degradation, angiogenesis, and bone erosion. The platform encompasses the overall disease process and allows the simulation of both current standard of care and therapies in development in virtual patients that span the range of clinical phenotypes. Over 700 biological functions or pathways are included in the platform, enabling researchers to predict and evaluate clinical outcomes in response to therapeutic interventions.

Enhancements within the RA PhysioLab platform now include a representation of B cells, critical contributors to disease progression, and expanded representations of bone and serum. The bone compartment allows researchers to explore the effects of therapeutic interventions at earlier time points than current radiographic approaches, and broadens the ability of researchers to investigate combination therapies and identify biomarkers of therapeutic efficacy. The expanded serum compartment allows researchers to investigate how soluble factors in blood can change in response to therapies, and provides additional candidate biomarkers.

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